Mrs J. V. Shields and E J M McFadden's Country House (Lookin At Lucky) completely bombed the start when veering in sharply from gate one, but the chestnut was given a patient ride from the tail thereafter by Luis Saez and saved his best for last en route to a three-length graduation and 'TDN Rising Star' honors.
Making his sophomore debut and first appearance since a runner-up effort at longshot odds going a mile over a laboring Aqueduct main track Dec. 1, Country House spotted his rivals the better part of 10 lengths once straightened away and remained out of the frame down the backstretch as 15-1 Ownitifyouwantit (Midshipman) set a modest pace. Called upon while five or six deep on the turn, he continued to make eyecatching progress leaving the quarter pole and finished up full of run and straight and strong for the victory as the 3-5 chalk. He covered 40 feet more than the runner-up according to Trakus.
Country House is cleverly bred, as second dam Shooting Party–raced by the late Shields to a runner-up effort in the 2001 GI Garden City Breeders' Cup S.–was responsible for Lookin At Lucky's overachieving son Breaking Lucky, a Grade III winner on synth and three times Grade I-placed on conventional dirt. Country House is the final produce for Quake Lake, who died in 2016.
3rd-Gulfstream, $43,140, Msw, 1-17, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:44.99, ft.
COUNTRY HOUSE, c, 3, by Lookin At Lucky
1st Dam: Quake Lake, by War Chant
2nd Dam: Shooting Party, by Sky Classic
3rd Dam: Ayanka, by Jade Hunter
Lifetime Record: 3-1-1-0, $40,175. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
O-Mrs J V Shields Jr & E J M McFadden Jr; B-J V Shields (KY); T-William I Mott.
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